Behind the scenes: How London's top restaurateurs choose where to open

Ever wondered how top restaurateurs decide where to open? Ben Norum talks to London’s leading restaurant property consultant — who oversaw the Sexy Fish sale — to find out
Record-breaking restaurant: Sexy Fish rented for almost £200 per square foot
Ben Norum19 November 2015

David Rawlinson may not be a big name like Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing or Caprice Holdings’ Richard Caring, but he’s played a big part in many of their recent launches.

Through his property consultancy company Restaurant Property he and his 15-strong team recently sealed the deal on Mayfair’s celeb-soaked Sexy Fish as well as high-profile sites for Roka in Mayfair and Aldwych, locations for restaurant group D&D London and several Ramsay restaurants including Heddon Street Kitchen just off Regent Street.

He is currently scouting sites for names such as Ollie Dabbous and Atul Kochhar of Benares.

His work involves talking to restaurateurs, liaising with landlords and matching the two up with each other.

“The first and most important step is to make sure we understand the concept entirely,” says David. “Aside from ascertaining what budget there is for the site, we will ask about who the target audience is, what size of restaurant is required, the kind of layout that is wanted and if there are any particular features to look out for — such as high ceilings or big windows.”

Restaurant finder: David Rawlinson

Location, location, location

“In order to be successful, the restaurant has to be the right fit for the area,” says David, who has worked with chains including Pizza Express, Prezzo and Zizzi as well as higher-end clients. “For example, I wouldn’t recommend a Prezzo in Soho or the East End because those areas are too much about individuality.”

“I don’t always agree with the locations that clients come to me saying they want — but all I can do is advise. Usually everyone ends up agreeing after a little more research.”

He explains that there are three categories of restaurant property, each suitable for different styles of restaurant.

Primary property is that with the highest footfall — on busy shopping streets, near stations etc — and this is the kind of property a “high-volume, low-cost operator such as McDonald’s” would require. It is the most expensive property per square foot.

Secondary property is found in slightly less busy areas and, as such, comes at a slightly lower rate. This is favoured by “more premium, but still high-volume restaurants such as Carluccio’s”.

For good value...Hackney and Stoke Newington areas are still the places to look

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Tertiary property, located well off the beaten track, offers little passing trade and is suitable only for destination restaurants of the kind that customers will travel to get to — “Gordon Ramsay’s Royal Hospital Road is a good example”.

In terms of good value, David reckons that the Hackney and Stoke Newington areas are still the places to look — “Shoreditch is saturated now, and these are picking up the overspill”. But the prices here are rising fast.

Hiking rents

London’s escalating rents are well documented, and several pubs, bars and restaurants have already been forced to close as a result — particularly in the up and coming Brixton and Hackney areas. David sees no sign of this letting up.

“Rents just keep increasing and this year restaurant space has been valued as worth more than ground floor office space for the first time in certain parts of London, which is significant."

"A record high was hit this year by the Sexy Fish site in Mayfair, which rented for almost £200 per square foot.”

“Clearly these aren’t the kind of rents many restaurants will be able to keep up with. In the same way that high-end shops will have an outlet on Bond Street which operates at a loss but is good for the brand, maybe restaurant chains will start to have West End sites that are subsidised by other branches. This would be a sad situation, though.”

Discerning landlords

A more positive development for London’s restaurant property market is the emergence of more discerning landlords.

A positive development is the emergence of more discerning landlords

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“Landlords are now starting to understand the importance of their food offerings, and they are also realising that having a trendy restaurant as part of a development is good for business. This is leading to companies making what are known as personal concessions and offering properties not just to the highest bidder, but to who they think suits the site best and who will make the most attractive offering.”

One of the biggest commercial landlords in the restaurant sector is Shaftesbury, whose portfolio spans 300 properties taking in large swathes of the West End. The company interviews prospective restaurateurs and makes a decision based on who will be most successful in the site.

David works for landlords as well as restaurants, seeking to fill their sites with the right businesses — as well as Shaftesbury, his clients have included The Portman Estate, which owns much of Marylebone, and Stanhope which is developing the BBC Television Centre site in White City.

The best food in London

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“The main thing that’s wanted is to get the right mix of food options in an area, so they feed into each other and create a booming area rather than cannibalise each other. I know that at the moment Canary Wharf is seeking more vegetable and fish-focused restaurants as there is too much meat in the area, for example."

Canary Wharf is seeking more vegetable and fish-focused restaurants as there is too much meat in the area

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"It’s also important to offer a range of cuisine types at varying price points. The offer needs to cater for everyone, from tourists to hospitality workers, secretaries to high-flying execs.”

“It’s in everyone’s interest that businesses do well and want to stay in the site for the long term as otherwise it leads to void periods when the premises are empty and the landlords are missing out on rent.”

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